A former NASA astronaut and current undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force will be visiting Northern Kentucky University’s campus March 1.

Dr. Ronald Sega will address homeland security, NASA and recent advances in science and technology at a lecture in the University Center ballroom.

“This is quite a big deal to have someone of his caliber on campus,” said Joseph Mills, one of the event’s organizers.

President James Votruba said that Congressman Geoff Davis worked closely with Votruba himself to arrange Sega’s visit to campus.

“I think this will be a great opportunity for students and faculty to hear from someone who works at the highest level of the Defense Department,” Votruba said.

“We live in an age of science and I think everyone could find (Sega’s lecture) interesting.”

According to the Air Force Web site, www.af.mil, “Sega is responsible for all actions of the Air Force on behalf of the secretary of the Air Force and is acting secretary in the secretary’s absence.

In that capacity, he oversees the recruiting, training and equipping of more than 710,000 people and a budget of approximately $110 billion.”

Sega graduated from the Air Force Academy later served at Air Force Space Command in several assignments for 14 years.

Sega later joined NASA as an astronaut and from November 1994 to March 1995 he was NASA’s Director of Operations, responsible for managing NASA activities supporting astronaut and cosmonaut training for flight on the Russian Mir space station.

Along with his flight experience, Sega served as the dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs from 1996 to 2001. He has also authored more then 100 technical publications.

In an article published by the Air Force last December, Sega expressed the importance of hiring and maintaining quality people for space programs.

“The world is moving forward, with the rate of technology and knowledge increasing — and the Air Force